Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Eritrea: Human Rights

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to promote human rights in Eritrea.

James Duddridge: We remain deeply concerned about the human rights situation in Eritrea. As my Rt Hon Friend the Member for Aylesbury (David Lidington), Minister of State at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, raised during an adjournment debate on Human Rights in Eritrea in November 2015, we regularly press the Government of Eritrea, including at ministerial level, to take concrete steps to improve its respect for human rights. At the UN Human Rights Council we made clear that these must include setting term limits on Eritreans doing national service and cooperating with international human rights bodies. The UK will take part in the EU Article 8 Dialogue on human rights with the Eritrean government scheduled for early 2016. We will use this to reiterate the need for reforms on human rights and implementation of the recommendations made to Eritrea during its 2014 Universal Periodic Review.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Conditions of Employment: EU Countries

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what representations he has received from (a) the hon. Member for Wallasey, (b) the Labour Party and (c) the Trades Union Congress on protection of workers' rights in the EU; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Boles: My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has a regular series of meetings with the Trade Union Congress in which a range of subjects are discussed. The Trade Union Congress has responded to the Department for Business Innovation and Skills’ consultation on the implementation of the Posted Workers Enforcement Directive. In addition, some Trade Union Bill correspondence has referred to compliance with the EU Social Charter. No recent representations from either the honourable Member for Wallasey or the Labour Party have been received through the Department concerning the protection of workers’ rights in the EU.

Department for Education

Schools: Bullying

Michael Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to tackle bullying initiated by religious intolerance in schools.

Edward Timpson: All bullying is unacceptable and every school is required to have a behaviour policy including measures to tackle all forms of bullying. They are held to account by Ofsted and inspectors will look at records and analysis of bullying, discriminatory and prejudicial behaviour, including racist, disability, use of derogatory language and racist incidents.The Longitudinal Study of Young People in England published in November 2015 found that 30,000 fewer young people said they had been bullied in the last twelve months - a drop from 41 per cent in 2004 to 36 per cent in 2014.All schools are required to promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faith and beliefs. Our guidance published in November 2014 says that British values include accepting that others of different faiths or beliefs to oneself (or having none) should be accepted and tolerated, and should not be the cause of prejudicial or discriminatory behaviour.All publicly funded schools are required also to promote community cohesion and teach a broad and balanced curriculum. The curriculum provides many opportunities to foster tolerance and understanding. For example, as part of the history curriculum, pupils could learn about different cultures, and about how different groups have contributed to the development of Britain. The citizenship programme of study sets out a requirement for pupils to be taught about ‘the diverse national, regional, religious, and ethnic identities in the United Kingdom and the need for mutual respect and understanding’. PSHE can teach young people about the rights and responsibilities of living in a diverse community and how to respect others.

Home Office

BBC: Complaints

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will direct HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary to investigate Kent Police's handling of a complaint of alleged corruption within the BBC in Tunbridge Wells made by a constituent of the hon. Member for North Norfolk.

Mike Penning: The role of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) is to inspect the efficiency and effectiveness of forces. If an individual is unhappy with the way a force has handled a specific matter, then they are able to make a complaint, either through the force directly, or via the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) or the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). The Home Office does not intervene in individual complaint cases. It would be for the force to determine whether a complaint should be subject to a local investigation or referral to the IPCC under part 2 of the Police Reform Act 2002. The handling of police complaints must be customer focused, simple to understand and transparent throughout. Through the Policing and Criminal Justice Bill we will increase accountability and transparency in the complaints system by strengthening the role of directly-elected PCCs, and by reforming the IPCC to ensure that it has the powers it needs to secure public confidence and investigate complaints effectively.

Asylum: Finance

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many section 95 support claims for asylum seekers have been subject to processing delays of more than 14 days in the last 12 months; and how many on-going claims are subject to delays of more than 14 days.

James Brokenshire: The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.However we continue to meet our statutory duties to accommodate and support destitute asylum seekers. Assessment of eligibility for support remains a priority. Since April 2015, 82% (14,112) of section 95 applications have been processed within 10 working days.

Overseas Students: English Language

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to paragraph 7.3 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, whether she plans to maintain international language requirements for both universities and pre-university students.

James Brokenshire: It is important to ensure that students who come to study in the UK under the Tier 4 route of the points-based system can speak English, in order that they can truly benefit from their British education and will be able to properly integrate with their peers. We will continue to have English language requirements for these students.We have an excellent offer for international students who wish to study at our world-leading institutions and there remains no limit on the number who can do so. As a result, the UK remains the second most popular destination in the world for international higher education students. Annual visa applications from international students to study at British universities are now 17 per cent higher than they were in 2010, with visa applications to our elite Russell Group universities up by 39 per cent since 2010.

Asylum: Finance

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce the time taken to make section 95 support payments to asylum seekers.

James Brokenshire: We continue to meet our statutory duties to accommodate and support destitute asylum seekers. Assessment of eligibility for support remains a priority. UKVI ensures staff are recruited and deployed flexibly to continue to meet business demands.

UK Visas and Immigration: Correspondence

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 23 December 2015 to Question 19753, on UK Visa and Immigration correspondence, how many people who received those letters have left the UK.

James Brokenshire: The information could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

Visas: Married People

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 16 December 2015 to Question 19474, in what circumstances her Department plans to recompense spousal visa applicants whose application is not determined within the eight-week postal service standard.

James Brokenshire: Generally, the Home Office will not recompense a customer whose spousal application is not considered within the eight week postal service standard.The Home Office aims to process all straightforward applications, that is those that have complied with the application process including provision of mandatory information, evidence and biometrics, within eight weeks of receipt.There are a variety of reasons why a spousal application may take longer than the publicised service standard. As such the Home Office service standard reflects that and does not allow for all cases to be decided within that publicised standard.If the Home Office cannot make a decision within the service standard, the Home Office will write to customers to inform them of the next steps and when they are likely to receive a decision.It is open to a customer to submit a complaint if their application is not considered within the service standard. These claims are considered on an ex-gratia basis under the complaints procedure. Any compensation would be handled based on individual customers’ exceptional circumstances, and as such these are considered on a case-by-case basis.

House of Commons Commission

House of Commons: Repairs and Maintenance

John Mann: To ask the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, what assessment the Commission has made of the effect of reductions in the number of hon. Members in 2020 on its Estates planning.

Tom Brake: Officials keep the assumptions that guide planning for the Parliamentary Estate under constant review. It is not expected that a reduction in the number of Members from 2020 will have any significant impact on our Estates planning, as it will not be a sufficient number to allow us to release any buildings. It may provide better accommodation for some Members, and alleviate the overcrowding of Members’ staff and House staff in a number of existing office spaces.

Department of Health

Nurses: Training

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the potential effect of replacing student bursaries with loans on the number of British students entering nursing courses in each of the next five years; and what assessment his Department has made of whether there will be a need to increase international recruitment to the NHS as a consequence of that change.

Ben Gummer: The Government assessment undertaken to date is that nursing is consistently one of the most popular courses on University Central Administration Service (fifth), with 57,000 applicants for around 20,000 nursing places in 2014. Midwifery and Allied Health Professional courses receive higher than average applications as well.A maximum £9,000 tuition fee for other subjects at higher education institutions was introduced in 2012. Between 2012 and 2014 the number of English domiciled applicants to enter full-time undergraduate courses in the United Kingdom increased by 7.5% (from 454,000 in 2012 to 487,870 in 2014).We estimate that the reforms will allow universities to be able to offer up to 10,000 more nursing, midwifery and allied health training over this parliament. Nursing is currently on the Home Office Shortage Occupation List (SOL) and we recognise the valuable contribution that international nurses have and will continue to make but the Government is committed to reducing the need for overseas nurses within this parliament, nursing will only stay on the SOL list for as long as they are needed.

Nurses: Training

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the average length of time that it will take for student nurses to pay off the cost of loans accrued under the proposed loans system for nurses.

Ben Gummer: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 1 December 2015 to Question 18020.

Social Workers: Temporary Employment

Sir Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 25 November 2015 to Question 16659, whether providers of locum social workers must be registered with the Care Quality Commission.

Ben Gummer: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care providers in England.The CQC is responsible for developing and consulting on its methodology for assessing whether providers are meeting the fundamental standards, this includes making the decision on which providers are carrying out a regulated activity and therefore need to be registered with the CQC.Only providers of a regulated activity are required to register with the CQC. The provision of staff to social care providers is not a regulated activity, therefore the providers of locum social workers are not required to register with the CQC.

Care Homes: Standards

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the Care Quality Commission plans to introduce a public review system for care homes.

Ben Gummer: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care providers in England.The CQC is responsible for developing and consulting on its methodology for inspecting providers.The CQC’s inspection regime provides a comprehensive assessment of provider’s performance. During an inspection, the CQC asks five questions of every service and provider; are they safe, effective, caring, well led and responsive to people’s needs.The CQC’s inspections take into account the views of patients and service users. Prior to carrying out an inspection, the CQC considers any complaints or concerns from members of the public as part of its intelligence on where and when to inspect. During an inspection the CQC gathers the views of people who use services so it gets a full picture of the level of service at a provider.Following an inspection the CQC rates a provider on a four point scale running from outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate. This gives patients and the public a fair, balanced and easy to understand assessment of performance of a provider.These new rigorous inspections ensure that the full picture of services at a particular provider is known and published on the CQC website, and if required, the provider knows what it must do to improve.

Care Homes: Standards

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will bring forward proposals to give the Care Quality Commission additional powers to sanction care providers which are persistently non-compliant with inspection regimes.

Ben Gummer: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has a full range of enforcement powers that it can use where providers are not meeting the registration requirements.The Department has no plans to give the CQC additional powers to sanction care providers which are persistently non-compliant with inspection regimes.The CQC’s inspection regime provides a comprehensive assessment of provider’s performance against the fundamental standards. Following an inspection the CQC rates a provider on a four point scale running from outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate. This gives patients and the public a fair, balanced and easy to understand assessment of the performance of a provider.Since 1 April 2015, any adult social care provider rated “Inadequate” by the CQC has been placed in Special Measures. Such providers will have six months to improve. If they fail to do so, their registration may be cancelled and they will exit the market.

Care Quality Commission: Civil Proceedings

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many times the Care Quality Commission has been the subject of legal action by care providers in each year since 2010.

Ben Gummer: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care providers in England.The CQC has provided the following information.For the purpose of this question, the CQC has defined legal action by care providers as action that has passed the permission stage for judicial reviews and cases where claims have been issued that have gone to a full hearing and have not been struck out, dismissed after summary judgment or where there has been a consent order between the parties. The CQC has also taken legal action to mean successful applications for injunctions.201020112012201320142015Judicial ReviewNoneNoneNoneNoneNoneOne injunction sought in relation to publication of an inspection report. Injunction not successful but permission to pursue a judicial review granted. DefamationNoneNoneNoneNoneNoneNoneMisfeasanceNoneNoneNoneNoneNoneNoneOther civil claimsNoneNoneNoneNoneOne County Court claim.NoneInjunctionNoneNoneNoneNoneOne injunction granted to prevent publication of an inspection report.None

Social Services: Living Wage

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what representations he has received on the potential effect on the costs of elderly care of the introduction of the national living wage.

Alistair Burt: A number of representations were received from the adult social care sector and local government as part of the Spending Review process. These covered a range of issues, including the potential costs of the implementation of the national living wage. All representations were fully considered as part of the process and were fed into the eventual outcome as announced on 25 November 2015.Additionally, I regularly meet with representatives of local government and the care home industry to discuss topics including adult social care funding, and will continue to do so.

Hepatitis

Tom Pursglove: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to his Department's publication, Living Well for Longer: One year on, published in March 2015, when he plans to publish a hepatitis C Improvement Framework.

Jane Ellison: A date for publication of the hepatitis C Improvement Framework has not yet been set. Public Health England continues working with NHS England and Operational Delivery Networks (ODNs) to establish a process of monitoring hepatitis C treatment access and uptake.Following their establishment in August 2015, ODNs will need to continue to be developed as a mechanism for ensuring equitable access to expert multidisciplinary team care and treatment for hepatitis C. ODNs are working to develop their plans, based on the published service specification and with the support of local specialised commissioning teams and regional Clinical Directors of specialised commissioning. Work is also underway to establish by February 2016 a national network of ODN clinical leads to share good practice. In addition, the draft hepatitis C improvement framework includes a numbers of areas pertinent to ODN operation and will therefore support further development of their role.

Hepatitis

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the hepatitis C Improvement Framework will include provisions on clinical commissioning groups and local authorities to engage with the Operational Delivery Networks jointly to commission services.

Jane Ellison: The draft hepatitis C Improvement Framework has focused on public health improvements in hepatitis C. As such, this does not include provisions on clinical commissioning groups and local authorities to engage with Operational Delivery Networks to jointly commission services as this is beyond the governance remit of the work. In its 2014 report Hepatitis C in the UK, Public Health England recommended that “Health (and, in England, local authority) commissioners should work together to consider how to improve the availability, access and uptake of approved hepatitis C treatments in primary and secondary care, drug treatment services, prisons and other settings, and to drive innovative approaches to provide outreach”. In support of this, I hosted a summit on 3 March 2015 with local authority and voluntary sector representatives, public health and clinical experts to share best practice and explore actions that could be taken at local government level to significantly reduce the burden of hepatitis C and tuberculosis in England.

Accident and Emergency Departments: Mortality Rates

Mr Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, on average how many patients died in A&E on a (a) Monday, (b) Tuesday, (c) Wednesday, (d) Thursday, (e) Friday, (f) Saturday and (g) Sunday in the last 12 months for which data is available.

Mr Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, on average, how many patients were admitted to A&E on a (a) Monday, (b) Tuesday, (c) Wednesday, (d) Thursday, (e) Friday, (f) Saturday and (g) Sunday in the last 12 months for which data is available.

Jane Ellison: The average (mean) number of patients who died in accident and emergency (A&E) and who attended A&E on a (a) Monday, (b) Tuesday, (c) Wednesday, (d) Thursday, (e) Friday, (f) Saturday and (g) Sunday in 2013-14 is shown in the following table. These figures are taken from the Health and Social Care Information Centre’s Hospital Episode Statistics (HES). Final data for 2014-15 will be published on 28 January 2016.WeekdayAverage (mean) deaths in A&E departmentAverage (mean) attendances at A&EMonday59.355,212.7Tuesday54.049,660.8Wednesday56.048,667.0Thursday53.748,600.3Friday55.647,932.3Saturday55.848,614.6Sunday57.150,202.9Source: (HES), Health and Social Care Information CentreNotes:1. The table shows the mean of A&E attendances, and the mean of A&E attendances where the patient died in the department, by weekday for 2013-14. The HES A&E database is recorded at attendance level, not patient level.2. The data cannot be described as an average number of people as the same person may have had more than one A&E attendance within the time period presented.3. The data excludes planned follow-up attendances.

Miscarriage

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many NHS patients have had miscarriages as a result of the amniocentesis test in the last three years.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many NHS patients gave birth to children with Down's syndrome in each of the last three years; and how many such patients had had an amniocentesis test.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an estimate of the cost of introducing non-invasive prenatal testing for Down's syndrome to all NHS hospitals in the UK.

Ben Gummer: Data on the number of NHS patients who have had miscarriages as a result of the amniocentesis test is not held centrally.Data on the number of NHS patients who had an amniocentesis test and then gave birth to a child with Down’s syndrome is not held centrally.The following table is a count of births where the baby had a main or secondary diagnosis of Down's syndrome for the years 2012-13 to 2014-15. Note that this is not a count of patients who gave birth as one mother may have had multiple deliveries within the time period presented. Note that the data presented only identifies babies who have been diagnosed with Down's syndrome on the birth episode.Count of birth episodes1 where there was a primary or secondary diagnosis2 of Down's syndrome3, 2012-13 to 2014-154,5YearCount of birth episodes2012-135392013-145402014-15517Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sectorSource: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information CentreNotes1 Birth episodesA birth episode is the hospital episode relating to the baby. One can expect there to be a higher number of birth episodes than delivery episodes because a mother can give birth to multiple babies within the same pregnancy. Births are a subset of finished consultant episodes; a period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider.2 Number of episodes in which the patient had a primary or secondary diagnosisThe number of episodes where this diagnosis was recorded in any of the 20 (14 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and 7 prior to 2002-03) primary and secondary diagnosis fields in a Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) record. Each episode is only counted once, even if the diagnosis is recorded in more than one diagnosis field of the record.3ICD-10 codes for Down's syndromeThe following ICD-10 code classifies Down's syndrome:Q90 - Down syndrome4Assessing growth through time (Admitted patient care)HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage (particularly in earlier years), improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006-07) and changes in NHS practice. For example, apparent reductions in activity may be due to a number of procedures which may now be undertaken in outpatient settings and so no longer include in admitted patient HES data. Conversely, apparent increases in activity may be due to improved recording of diagnosis or procedure information.Note that HES include activity ending in the year in question and run from April to March, e.g. 2012-13 includes activity ending between 1st April 2012 and 31st March 2013.5Delivery and birth episodes in 2013-14Please be aware in 2013-14 there were a number of hospital providers where there were less birth episodes than delivery episodes. There are a number of possible reasons for this occurring in small numbers from genuine recording scenarios to other maternity data quality issues impacting. Further details regarding this issue can be found at:http://www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB16725/nhs-mate-eng-2013-14-ip-qual-rep.pdf As part of its review of evidence for offering non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) for Down's syndrome and other trisomy conditions, the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), which advises Ministers and the NHS in all four countries about all aspects of screening policy, commissioned a cost-consequence assessment. This assessment includes projected annual costs for a number of models of implementing NIPT and is available at:http://legacy.screening.nhs.uk/policydb_download.php?doc=552The UK NSC’s recommendation on NIPT and preferred models for implementations will be made public in the New Year.

Social Services: Living Wage

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect on elderly care providers of the introduction of the National Living Wage.

Alistair Burt: Our analysis of the impact of the National Living Wage for the Spending Review drew on projections and data on pay including information from the Office of Budget Responsibility and Skills for Care.The settlement gives local government access to the funding it needs to increase social care spending in real terms by the end of the Parliament, including:- The introduction of a social care precept, which puts money raising powers into the hands of local areas who understand the need in their area and who are best placed to respond. This could raise up to £2 billion by the end of the Parliament; and- From 2017/18, additional funds for social care will be made available through the Better Care Fund. This will rise to £1.5 billion by 2019/20.

Nurses: Training

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he has assessed the potential effects on nursing students of abolishing grants and maintenance allowances and introducing student loans and tuition fees for nurses' training placement.

Ben Gummer: The Department plans to issue a public consultation by the end of Febraury 2016 on how we can most successfully take forward and implement the reforms. An impact assessment will be published alongside the consultation document.

Tolvaptan

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of when Tolvaptan will be available through the NHS to treat autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease.

George Freeman: Tolvaptan (Jinarc) became available through the National Health Service following its launch in the United Kingdom in June 2015.In October, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published technology appraisal guidance recommending tolvaptan as a treatment for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease where certain conditions are met.NHS commissioners are legally required to fund drugs and treatments recommended by NICE technology appraisals within three months of the NICE technology appraisal guidance being published.